I know, I know, the picture quality it awful but I keep forgetting to take these pictures during the day and then when it's dark at night I have to use a flash which looks...so bad. I've resolved to take these pregnancy pictures during the day from now on!!! Hold me to it, okay?

B A B Y S T A T S

Unborn baby at 26 weeks. Photo by MED Art Studios.

​This week the nerves in baby's ears are becoming more sensitive. This means baby can hear things going on outside the womb - like Tom and I talking or Charlotte, well, screaming. ;)She is inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid (the fluid surrounding her in the womb) which is essential for her developing lungs. She is also starting to open her little eyes! Not that there's much to see in there but it's still pretty amazing, huh? She is able to respond to things happening around her because her brain wave activity has started to really kick in! For example - if Charlotte crawls on my belly (as she often does) baby girl's pulse may rise if she feels Charlotte above her. How amazing is that?! The unborn amaze me...She weighs about 1 2/3 lbs and measures about 14 inches long! Such a big girl! :)She's about as big as aZUCCHINI

M O M M Y S T A T S

Weight Gain

To be honest I haven't weighed myself since my last update and my midwife appointment isn't until next Monday the 31st soooo we'll just have to wait for the 28 week update! I think it's still about 8 lbs though. Maybe 9. I'm not sure.

Maternity Clothes

Yep - they're a necessity these days! I remember someone asking where I got my maternity skirts for church when I was pregnant with Charlotte and I kind of laughed and said, "None of mine are maternity! I just pull the skirt down below my belly and it fits the same!"

HA!

That was cute, Hannah...Charlotte did not sit in my belly as low as this baby girl does. I can't even wear yoga pants to bed without feeling uncomfortable. Anything - and I mean anything with a waist band kills me these days. Haha and I still have 14 weeks left. This girl is as low as she can be without actually being born. Lord, give me strength! And a higher sitting baby! ;)

Sleep

Sleep is still tricky. My arms have seriously become crazy restless. I've never experienced restless arms, only restless legs. But now I have both and only at bedtime! It seems to be worse when I'm overheated too. I'm definitely going to talk to my midwife about this at my 27/28 week appointment because it's driving me crazyyyy!

Best Moment From Weeks 25 + 26

- Charlotte still loves to kiss my belly and has been doing it so much the last few days! Today she woke up really upset from her nap so I put her on my lap, snuggled her, and we watched some videos. She calmed down, looked at my belly, lifted up my shirt and said, "Hiiii!" and kissed my belly a bunch of times. It was seriously the cutest thing ever! I absolutely love that my girls already love each other...

Cravings

Ummm Gatorade? I've been walking passed it at the store and I've resisted the last few weeks but when I went to the store yesterday I gave in and bought an 8 pack. Love that stuff!!

Food/Smell Aversions

Yep. Everything still smells like stinky feet to me. Also, other people's kids' diapers make me sooooo sick. Haha is that weird? I changed another kid's diaper recently and it almost killed me! Is this a pregnancy thing or an everyone thing?! lol. Maybe I'm just a weird wimp.

Labor Signs?

Noooooooooooooooo.

Other Symptoms

- Yeah, I'm definitely much more tired lately. It must be the third trimester creeping up on me! Ohhhh joyyyyy. BUT, the third trimester means baby is coming soon!! I'm so excited and cannot cannot cannot wait to kiss her little cheekies.

- Braxton Hicks contractions are crazy! I don't get them as often as I did when I was pregnant with Charlotte (yet) but when I do get them they are tight and huge. Oh and coupled with the next symptom I listed below, let's just say that it makes for an interesting day. Haha!

- Sorry if this is TMI but I leave the bathroom, turn around, and go back into the bathroom. My bladdar feels like it's the size of a blueberry because it is always full.Wait, one sec, I have to use the restroom...

...Okay I'm back....Wait. One second......Okay I'm back......Now where were we?

#pregnancyproblems

Happy or Moody?

Well, when I'm not running to the bathroom I'm super happy! ;)No but really, I just can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going. I dream literally every single night about having our baby girl and, although the labor process isn't that fun, it means I get to snuggle my little squish soon and that makes me more happy than any amount of pain I'll have to experience!Hurry, hurry, Baby Doll! Mommy loves you!

My Midwife Says...

Nothing because I haven't had an appointment since my last post. But like I said, I have my next appointment and my glucose test at my appointment on the 31st so I'll update with the results and all of that good stuff in my 28 week update.

Well I'm actually dead serious when I say that I need to wrap this up because my daughter is sitting on my bladder. Haha anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day and I'll see you in my next post!

B A B Y S T A T S

Unborn baby at 24 weeks. Photo by MED Art Studios.

​Baby girl's brain is rapidly developing right now and her taste buds are too! Her lungs are growing and looking more and more like yours and mine. Her skin is still thin and translucent but that will change very soon. Her body is still developing the organs and the deposit of brown fat which helps her retain her body heat after birth - something newborns are notoriously bad at. She is officially viable outside the womb with the quick development of her lungs. So if I went into labor today, although rough and extremely risky, she could survive with the extensive help of intensive care services. Let's go another 16 weeks though, baby girl!She is growing like crazy and is now approximately 1 lb. 5 oz and 12 inches long or so. She's about the size of anEAR OF CORN!

M O M M Y S T A T S

Weight Gain

I had my monthly midwife appointment this week and I've gained 8 lbs so far. Definitely not as much as I "should" be gaining but they said I'm perfectly healthy, baby girl's heartbeat is strong, and that she's right on target for size so they are fine with only 8 lbs so far. Yay!

Maternity Clothes?

Oh yes. I tried to squeeze into a non-maternity shirt for the bump picture up at the top and it barely covered my belly so...I'm officially in all maternity clothes. Basically...I'm a whale. ;)

Sleep

Sleep has been tricky. I have restless legs, restless arms, restless everything...Haha! I need to be better about taking/consuming more magnesium because that's sometimes the cause of restless legs/body. All I want to do at night is lay on my stomach which, of course, isn't really much of an option these days. Soooo....yeah.

Best Moments From Weeks 23 + 24

- First, it was our 2 year wedding anniversary last week! If you didn't see my post about that (which includes pictures from each stage of our relationship + wedding pictures) then click HERE to go check it out! Anyway, it was a Monday so Tom got some picnic food on his way from work and we had a picnic in the park with Charlotte. It was so nice!We ate, played, swang, and talked about how much has happened in the last 2 years. Two years, two baby girls, and two million kisses has been pretty wonderful... :)

- Baby girl has a name! After a LOT of thought we finally made it official. I've decided not to publicly post her name until she's born because we have told some friends and family what her name is and - somehow - people have become upset about what we are naming our baby. That just makes no sense to me. If ya don't like it - #sorrynotsorry. #hatersgonnahate Anyway, I decided if people I know can get upset about it thennnn...I'm not going to subject her name to more ridicule from strangers online so you'll just have to wait until November! Or December if we're being realistic. (I'll probably be overdue like last time...lol.) But it was still a best moment because I love being able to say her name now!

- Charlotte has started kissing my belly! I'll say, "Where is baby sister?" or "What is baby sister's name?" and she *tries* to say it and kisses my belly. It is seriously the sweetest thing on earth and I love it!

Cravings

Haha pretty much everything these days... Is it loaded with carbs? Yes? Then I want it all. the. time.

Food/Smell Aversions

Things still smell like stinky feet to me. My husband thinks I'm crazy! I'll randomly stop and say, "Do you smell feet?" and every single time he's like, "Babe...no. You asked me that earlier too and I still don't smell it!" Haha poor guy. His wife gets a little crazy when she's preggo...

Labor Signs?

Nope nope nope.

Other Symptoms

- My back seriously feels so much better! I haven't even stretched in the last few weeks at all and it feels amazing. If I do something kind of strenuous then it might flare up a little but the pain is nowhere near what is used to be. Thank heaven! My physical therapist said that the hormones can change from time to time and it might cause the pain to go away so hopefully it's for good! I was not looking forward to being in labor with that intense back pain. Honestly that might have hurt worse than the labor itself because if I couldn't get into a certain position then my back pain was excruciating. I can't imagine getting contractions, not being able to move, and also feel like someone is stabbing me in the lower back/pelvis with a knife. Nope. At that point I'd say, "Yeah, I'll have one c-section and a large fry please. JUST NUMB ME." Ain't nobody got time for immobilizing pain.

- I've been a little more tired recently. I think that's just because I'm creeping up on my third trimester. I've been trying to take it easy. Well, as easy as one can take it while taking care of a toddler, running a home, running a blog, and preparing for a newborn. So...I've been on my feet all day every day. Haha! But I'm not like...climbing up onto chairs to scrub down the cabinets like I was when I was pregnant with Charlotte. (Nesting made me a crazy person.) I haven't quite started that yet with this baby girl but...we'll wait and see how crazy I get in the next few weeks/months if I have the energy. Oh boy!

Happy or Moody?

So happy! I absolutely cannot wait for my sweet little miss to arrive. I feel her kicking all day long and I just want to kiss and snuggle her so badly. I'm having severe newborn withdrawals and November can't come soon enough! I'm so excited. :) Hurry, little lady!

My Midwife Says...

When I went in last week she said baby girl's heartbeat is strong and healthy. She is measuring right on target and all my tests are coming back perfectly! I do have to take the glucose test next time I go though. I'm a little worried because we are going to a party the day before with lots of sugary things to eat so...pray I can resist eating them lest I develop gestational diabetes. lol. I think the same thing happened when I was pregnant with Charlotte though - we went to a party the day before and I ate a lot of sugar. I didn't have GD though so I hope I'm good this time too.

Thanks again for following along on my pregnancy journey with me! I'm so glad I decided to document this. I wish I could look back on my mom's pregnancy with me and see all the things she was feeling and doing and compare it to my own. I hope Charlotte and this baby enjoy looking back on my pregnancies with them someday!Let me know in the comments if you're experiencing some of the same things as me in your own pregnancy. I'd love to hear!

I thought I would put up a little post about how much our marriage means to me and a few things I've learned in the 2 years we've been married.(Scroll down for some pictures of us when we were dating, engaged and some of our wedding pictures!)

Rambling / Advice

So. Marriage. I've been so blessed with the man God gave me. I constantly feel like he puts way more into our marriage than I do. It's not that I don't try or that I don't care, it's just that I feel so taken care of that I think there's no way I reciprocate that enough. But then, he reminds me that I do take good care of him. I think it's the small things. The foot rubs, the dinners, even just giving Charlotte a bath. I guess I always feel like, "Well of course I take care of Charlotte! I'm a stay-at-home mom. It's my job!" But he makes me feel extraordinary about it. He lets me know all the time that it's not just expected of me; that it's amazing what I do, and that he's really thankful for me doing it.

I definitely try to let him know that the things he does for us matter so much too. Sometimes I feel exhausted after a long day and then I look down and I'm still in my pajamas, in the AC, and I got to take a nap today. Tom? He's been working in the heat wearing thick jeans and big boots, and then he sat in class for two hours. And then he came home and made dinner. And then he put Charlotte to bed (which is no small feat sometimes). Having that mindset definitely helps me curb my complaining.

I'm not diminishing the hard work that is motherhood in any way, but a great way to stay thankful and feel blessed is to actually stop think about all the everyday things your spouse does for you and your family. Yes, your husband goes to work every day but don't forget to remind him how thankful you are for him and the work he does. Thank him. Do something special for him when he gets home. And husbands - do the same for your wife. Something as small as getting her some $4 flowers from the grocery store self-checkout lane and kissing her when you walk in the door does wonders for a tired mom. People say "don't sweat the small stuff" but...

you need to sweat the small stuff!

The small stuff is what keeps marriage fun and sweet and happy!

So I guess that was my little piece of advice. Now lets get into what I've learned in my two years of marriage. This is definitely not everything I've learned but a quick list of a few of them.

What I've Learned

- First, I learned selflessness and selfishness. I learned how to balance the two. I think both are essential in marriage. Selflessness - being giving of yourself to your spouse. Like when you really really reallllllyyyy don't want to get up at 6:30am and make his lunch for work but you do it because you know how much it would mean to them if you did. Selfishness - I guess I don't mean it in the traditional sense of the word. I wouldn't want you to book a month-long cruise by yourself, leave the kids with your husband and say, "Figure it out!" on your way out the door. No. When I say selfishness we need to go back to "small things" again. I mean, schedule one night a week or every two weeks where you get time to yourself. Alone! You get to go shopping for a cute outfit by yourself or just go to a coffee shop, sit, and read. Alone! Do whatever it is that makes you happy! That is definitely not "selfish" of you in any way - we all need our alone time, especially moms. But I'm using the word "selfishness" to describe this alone-time for the sake of wordplay.

- Another thing I've learned is that date nights are essential. If we don't have a date night at least once a month or so I start to feel really burnt out. Parents need time away from their kids, not because they don't love them, but because they love them. When mommy and daddy are happy and have a healthy relationship that is way better for the kids than if you were stressed out, over-worked, and you stayed in with them for that few hours instead of going out. That isn't to say that going on dates isn't essential for married couples without kids. It most certainly is! I'm just going off of my current situation - parenthood.

- Support. Your spouse needs your support. Tom tells me all the time how amazing it is when I encourage him. He recently (as in last week) graduated school and he said he couldn't have done it without my constant reassurance and encouraging words. I know that I wouldn't be able to stay at home with Charlotte all the time unless I got some praise every now and then too. You want to receive some feedback for your hard work, right? When you're in the middle of a huge school project and there seems to be no end in sight it's amazing to have someone cheering you on, right? Or when you're working really hard for that promotion at work and a coworker says, "You're totally gonna get that position." it makes you feel amazing, right? The same thing applies in life and marriage. Whatever your spouse is working on - encourage them! Don't spare any praise! Celebrate little wins with them as though it was the biggest deal on earth. It lets them know how proud you are of them.

- Communicate! This is something Tom and I constantly have to work on. It's so easy to assume things all the time. Before you make plans, make sure your spouse is on board. Don't assume they can stay home with the kids while you go out one evening. Ask them. Don't assume your wife knows you love her. Tell her. Don't assume that you can spend $400 on shoes. Talk about it first. Which leads me to this...

- GET ON THE SAME PAGE ABOUT MONEY. NOW. Did you know the #1 cause of divorce in North America is money fights? If you're not yet married but you're going to be soon, get on the same page. Create a budget. Don't spend a dollar without talking about it first. One of the best things to happen to our marriage has been Dave Ramsey. Yep. We used his baby step system and we are now debt free and are on our way to saving a down payment for a house. (I'll make a post on this another time! It has seriously changed our lives.) This is not a get rich quick system. It's a get smart with your money system. It takes patience, lots of communication, and it may be stressful at times but it is so worth it. I cannot describe to you the feeling of having no car payment each month, no credit card payment, no furniture store payment and all the rest. Just go to his website and read about the system. I promise you won't regret it!www.daveramsey.comYou can thank me later ;).

I hope some of that was helpful to you! I know what I listed might seem like common sense but sometimes it's harder than it looks/sounds. Comment below with some things you have learned in your married life! I, as well as any site visitors I'm sure, would love to know what you've learned and what works!

Alright, no lets get to the fun part - pictures!

Dating...

The Night We Got Engaged...

Engagement Pictures...

Our Wedding...

Year #1...

Year #2...

I hope you enjoyed a little peak into our relationship through the years! And I hope you took something away from the things I've learned in my two years married to the most amazing person I've ever known :)

B A B Y S T A T S

Unborn baby at 22 weeks. Photo by MED Art Studios

This week baby girl's eyes, eyelids and eyebrows are becoming more distinct. She is also developing her tooth buds beneath her gums. How sweet is that?! Her eyes are completely formed but her irises still lack pigment at this point. She is growing growing growing like crazy! She is about 11 inches long and weighs 1 lb. She is about the size of aPAPAYA

M O M M Y S T A T S

Weight Gain

No change since my 20 week update. I've only gained 6 lbs so far! What on earth? I'm pretty sure in my pregnancy with Charlotte I had already gained like 20 lbs at this point. I mean I'm definitely not complaining though! If I can come out of this thing less fat than last time I'll be happy ;)

Maternity Clothes?

Oh yes. I went on a maternity shopping spree with my mom the other day and got a lot of new shirts. Kohl's had a great sale on their Motherhood/Oh Baby brand maternity clothes so I scored a lot! I even got a nice "church" shirt for $2.99. TWO NINTY NINE, PEOPLE.Me: "I'm not sure this will fit me though..."My Mom: "I don't care! It's $2.99! It'll be worth it even if you just buy it to wash your floors in! You're getting it!"I wasn't going to argue with that! Haha so in the cart it went :)

ANYWAY,this wasn't about a sale. It was about if I'm huge enough yet to warrant wearing maternity clothes. Yes. I am getting pretty large these days. The only non-maternity shirts that fit me are either Tom's shirts or those super flowy boho-type shirts. (Did that even make sense?)

Sleep

Sleep is like a roller coaster. Some weeks I fall asleep perfectly fine and other weeks it is SO hard for me to get comfortable. I get really frustrated and more uncomfortable and then more frustrated and I know that if I scroll through Twitter long enough I'll get really tired and might fall asleep so that's usually what happens. Or I'll get on Instagram and eventually wind up on my cousin's boyfriend's roommate's sister's aunt's profile. Yeah... (We've all been there. Don't lie.) So sometimes it's a struggle and sometimes it's a breeze. Weird!

Best Moment From Weeks 21 + 22

I've been feeling baby girl move allllll over the place in there! She's constantly flipping and kicking my everywhere and it's so sweet. She's just like her sister was in my belly - ACTIVE. I love it. I remember when I was pregnant with Charlotte my midwife told me to start doing kick counts. I laughed and said, "Trust me...I'll know if she stops moving." It's the same story with this baby girl.

I don't know if this is a "best moment" but we are starting to narrow down some names for this nugget. I'm not going to post my ideas publicly just yet, or possibly not even until she's born if we don't nail down the name until then. We'll see! But we are getting a really good idea of her name! I can't wait to be able to call her by her own name :)

Cravings

Same ole, same ole. Chipotle, savory snacks...the usual.

Food/Smell Aversions

I've still not been wanting too many sugary things. I still love and crave desserts but I can't have too much of it if I do have one. The sugar in it just becomes too much after a few bites. I guess that's a good thing in the long run though!

I also think everything smells like smelly feet. Lately I've been smelling it sometimes when I go places, even in the open air outside! Yeah...I'm a crazy pregnant lady. lol.

Labor Signs?

NOPE.

Other Symptoms

- My back has been a lot better since I've started stretching and icing it like my physical therapist recommended! I'm soooo much happier now that I can walk and move like a normal human being (most of the time anyway)!

- I'm still feeling more wide awake at night after Charlotte goes to bed. I've been getting a lot done during that time! It's been kind of amazing actually. :)

Happy or Moody?

Both. Happy because WE'RE MOVING and moody because...we're moving. lol. I'm really excited because I love our new place but let's face it...moving is stressful. It's kind of consumed my life lately. I've been eating, breathing and sleeping this move. So excited though!

My Midwife Says...

It's another in-between week so I haven't been to the midwife since my last post. But everything feels a-okay so I'm happy!

Well here we are! 22 weeks. I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Sorry I have been a little MIA but like I said...moving is hard. So there. lol.

Meet Hannah

My name is Hannah and I'm a lucky wife to Tom, and mama bear to two sweet girls - Charlotte & Rosalie. Coffee, lipstick, sunshine, and dresses are some of my favorite things! I love to blog about God, motherhood, "wifeyhood", food, health and much more. ​Check out my vlogs on YouTube as well!

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